ONEIDA -- "We are 49th in the nation in terms of small business growth," said Hanna. "We are 50th in the nation in terms of taxes. New York state has some of the highest energy costs in the country, as well."

These are some of the major reasons younger people are leaving New York state, U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna told a group of mostly seniors at Oneida Towers Friday.

"I love Upstate New York and I have seen people leave our area," Hanna said as he campaigned for the 22nd District seat, which now includes all of Madison and Oneida counties. He faces Democrat Dan Lamb in the Nov. 6 election.

The Republican incumbent said some key issues that particularly affect the district must be resolved before the exodus can be stemmed.

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A large percentage of the educated young adults are moving out of state for better opportunities, Hanna said, leaving behind those above the age of 57.

"I have a bill in Congress that supports STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) ," Hanna said. STEM is a plan to educate and proliferate the growth of technical skills needed to bring production back to the United States and New York. "We have 10 million people in this country who are not equipped to enter the middle class because they lack a high school diploma."

But education is just part of the solution, Hanna said.

"We need to break everything down and restore an American competitiveness agenda," Hanna said. "We need to support education, research things like renewable energy and find out what makes our businesses in the United States still work in a global setting."

Hanna said energy is another major problem, but "cap and trade," green energy incentives are not the solution.

"We use over 25 percent of the country's heat in the Northeast," Hanna said. While Hanna said he wants to seek renewable energy resources, he still supports the Keystone pipeline.

"If we don't build it, we are letting the Chinese take those resources from Canada," said Hanna. If the U.S. doesn't build the pipeline, it will increase our dependency on oil from the Middle East, he said.

Hanna touched on Medicare, a subject that has been difficult for his campaign because of his support of the Paul Ryan Medicare reforms.

"I believe the voucher system falls short of what we are capable of," Hanna said.

Both Hanna and Lamb said that disputes involving the Oneida Indian Nation, state and local governments are approaching resolution in the courts; neither candidate sees Native American issues becoming matters that Congress needs to deal with.